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II' 



RESOURCES AND NEEDS 



EDMONSON COUNTY, 



KENTUCKY 



G. W. LONG. 



1885 



Tub Bradley & Gilbert Company, Printkhs. 
Louisville, Ky. 






. E ^L '^ 



THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS 



Edmonson County, Kentucky, 



INTRODUCTORY. 

It may be as well to state in the outset that the writer of this brief 
summary of the advantages and disadvantages of Edmonson County 
as a home and a place for the profitable investment of capital does 
not own an acre of the lands he attempts to describe. His only inter- 
est in the material advancement and the development of the resources 
of his native county is that common to all her sons — a desire to see 
his birth-place take its position by the side of those counties whose 
mineral resources have already been developed. 

If we were seeking an influx of immigration, without regard to 
consequences, we might be induced to give only the bright side of the 
picture, and to deal mostly in glittering generalities; but while we 
invite the honest, energetic immigrant to come and make his home 
among us, this pamphlet will not only call the attention of capitalists 
and laborers to the many advantages which this county offers for pay- 
ing investments and pleasant homes, but will also strive to point out 
the needs of our people in a concise manner. 

It must be admitted that Kentucky has been left far behind her 
western sisters in point of immigration. This is not due to a lack of 
resources, nor to the rigor or intensity of her climate ; few States are 
richer in mineral wealth, or in the value and extent of their forests 
than Kentucky, and while the people do not bask in "eternal sun- 
shine," our climate is as nearly perfect as may be found elsewhere; 
and much milder than that of the great Northwest, which makes broad 
claims to climatic perfection. The cause is partly due to the bad 
impressions which the people of other States have of our citizens, 
(a subject that will be noticed further on), but more especially to a 
lack of information regarding our soil, climate, timber, mineral, and 
the true character of our society. Kentucky has no railroads or other 
great corporations owning large bodies of her land to advertise her 



THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF 



resources and invite, by cheap fares and otherwise, the home-seeker 
to take up his abode among us. The lands are divided in compara- 
tively small parcels among the people, generally, and no individual 
owns enough to justify an extensive system of advertising. The State 
has taken but little interest in this important matter, and the outside 
world has been left in comparative ignorance of our resources and the 
character of our people. The Hon. John R. Proctor, Director of the 
Geological Survey of Kentucky, has given this question some atten- 
tion, and his labors have been quite fruitful; and I am indebted to him 
for much information concerning the mineral resources of this county. 

HISTORICAL STATEMENT. 

Edmonson'^County was established in 1825, out of parts of Hart, 
Grayson, and Warren counties, and was named in honor of Capt. 
John Edmonson. It is bounded on the north by Grayson, east by 
Hart, south by Warren, and west by Warren and Butler counties. It 
is situated on either side of Green River, about one hundred miles 
from Louisville, and one hundred and thirty miles from Frankfort. 

Being situated near the thirty-seventh parallel of North latitude, it 
is neither extremely cold nor excessively hot, but approaches very 
near the golden mean. The extremes are ten degrees below zero in 
winter, and ninety-five above in summer. The winters are, indeed, 
few that mark ten degrees below zero, and I doubt whether the ther- 
mometer for the past fifty years registered, on an average, a single 
day when the mercury stood below that point. 

THE PEOPLE. 

Unfortunately, Kentucky has inherited the harsh name of the 
"dark and bloody ground," and persons abroad have received, and 
still nourish, as sacred truth, very exaggerated ideas of the character, 
habits, and disposition of our people. The impression appears to have 
gone forth, that whoever enters upon Kentucky soil must do so against 
the point of a dirk or at the muzzle of a shot-gun ; and many good people 
of other States, from erroneous ideas received through unreliable and 
inflammatory stories, really shudder at the thought of bringing their 
"little innocents" to live in such a country. Indeed, from stories I 
have read about Kentucky savagery, one would think that a Ken- 
tuokian abroad would create a greater sensation than forty Com- 
manche "braves." How is it that two sentiments, so different in 
their nature, can live side by side ? The one that Kentuckians raise 
their gory hands against any one who ventures upon Kentucky soil, 



/ 



EDMONSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY. 



the Other that they are the most hospitable people on the globe. All 
the newspaper comment about the great number of homicides in 
Kentucky is colored to order, and greatly exaggerates the truth. A 
man's life and property is as secure in Kentucky as elsewhere, and our 
laws are as well executed — the non-professional criticisms of our courts 
to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The people of Edmonson County are as quiet, and as seldom vio- 
late the law as any people of whom I have any specific knowledge. 
They are generally poor, and many of them rather more indolent than 
accords with thrift and progress, but, as a rule, they are honest. There 
are certainly some who violate the commandment, " Thou shalt not 
steal," but I venture. to say that no county in the State, nor, indeed, 
in any State, is freer from thievery than this. While prohibitory 
enactments of a minor nature are frequently violated, crimes, which 
are, per se, wrong, are rarely ever perpetrated. 

The hospitality of Kentucky people is praised by every one who 
has shared their bounties, and no where does this virtue remain in its 
primeval simplicity more completely than among the generous inhabi- 
tants of Edmonson County. Go where you may, and you meet a 
kind reception ; and, though a stranger, the poorest peasant will divide 
his scanty meal, and share his fireside with you. 

Our people all labor; there are no " gentlemen" among us, except 
the inevitable " goods-box politician" and chronic " sponge." 

It must be admitted that our people, like the laboring classes all 
over the world, are ignorant of the forms and ceremonies of polite 
society ; that they are not versed in aesthetics or the social code, but 
for a whole-souled, hearty welcome to friends, and a kind word for 
strangers, and a helping hand for the needy, old Edmonson's sons and 
daughters are unsurpassed. Then, they have the fundamental quali- 
ities of true gentlemen and ladies — honesty and a just regard for the 
rights and feelings of others — and may soon learn the mere formal 
part of intercourse. Our society, from a moral standpoint, is good 
and wholesome, and no one need fear to raise his children in our 
midst. There are no saloons in the county. 

TOWNS. 

We are not blessed with towns of any considerable size, nor, 
indeed, of ordinary dimensions; and, hence, our local markets, 
which are always best for the producer, are not sufficient to stimulate 
that exertion so necessary to the financial prosperity of the county. 



THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF 



Brownsville, our county seat, is located on the south side of Green 
River, three miles below the mouth of Nolin River, and one hundred 
and thirty miles southeast from Frankfort. And, although it was 
established in 1828, has only about one hundred and twenty-five 
inhabitants. We have a good court-house, built in 1873, on which 
the county owes some $10,000 or $12,000 — the only indebtedness of 
the county. On the east and the west sides of town, two hills rear 
their summits above the spire of the court-house, on whose tops the 
outcrops of iron ore give unmistakable evidence of the wealth that has 
slept beneath. We have three stores, three hotels, four practicing 
attorneys, one physician, and one carpenter. We have neither rail- 
road connection nor river transportation, but of this we will speak 
more fully. 

Rocky Hill Station is twelve miles southeast of Brownsville, on 
the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and has a population of 120. 
It has two general stores, two drug stores, a hotel, blacksmith's shop, 
and is a live little town. It is the present shipping point for Browns- 
ville. 

Bee Spring, nine miles north of Brownsville, on the Brownsville 
and Leitchfield road, and near Nolin River, is a small village con- 
taining a post-oiifice, two stores, and school-house. A Swedish colony 
is located here, and its founder, as well as other members, has made 
a very favorable report of the condition and prospects of the settle- 
ment. The village has a nice location, and as it is situated near the 
best iron and coal fields of the county, will ultimately be a thriving 
town. 

Among other villages and post-offices of the county may be men- 
tioned Stockholm, twelve miles northeast of Brownsville; Pig, seven 
miles southeast; and Huff, ten miles southwest. Of these, Stockholm, 
being situated within a short distance of outcrops of coal and iron 
ore, is the most important. 

CAVERNS. 

The world-famed Mammoth Cave, whose magnitude and wonders 
have attracted thousands of the most intelligent citizens of all coun- 
tries, is only twelve miles from our county seat, on or very near 
Green River, and nine miles from the Louisville & Nashville Rail- 
road, at Cave City, from which stages run to the cave. Besides this 
great wonder of the world, there are a great number of other caves 
whose attractions (save in size) are scarcely less than the mother of 
all caves. 



EDMONSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY. 



Of these caves, Prof. Shaler, in his report of the Geological Sur- 
vey of Kentucky, vol. 3, pp. 52 and 53, says: 

" The caverns of Kentucky are among the most remarkable curiosities of this 
continent. They must always arouse the liveliest interest, and bring many 
tourists to the State. When they are explored and mapped, and their wonders 
well set forth, they will become a source of attraction to a much larger part of 
the world than has yet fell any interest in them. No other known region has a 
similarly extensive development of these caves. ***** j^ seems 
likely that these caverns have a very great value for the storage of fruit and other 
perishable material, * * » * * ^g the region where they occur is 
destined to be in close relations with many large cities, and is peculiarly suited 
to the growth of fruits and vegetables, there may be use for just these caverns. 

"In Edmonson County there are probably not less than five hundred of these 
caverns, of considerable size, and a careful search might develop more." 

RIVERS. 

The most important streams traversing the county are Green and 
Nolin rivers, and Bear Creek. 

Green River rises in Lincoln County, and flows southwest through 
Casey, Adair, Taylor, Green, Hart, and Edmonson counties, thence 
northwest through Butler, McLean, and Henderson, and forms a 
boundary line of Ohio, Muhlenburgh, Webster, and Daviess counties, 
and enters the Ohio River nine miles above Evansville, Indiana. 

Nolin River heads in Hardin County, flows southwest, forming the 
boundary line between Grayson and Hart counties ; thence south 
through Edmonson County, entering Green River three miles above 
Brownsville. 

Bear Creek has its fountain head in Grayson County, flows south- 
west through the western part of Edmonson County, and enters Green 
River nine miles below Brownsville, at the beginning corner of the 
county. 

It will be observed that both Nolin River and Bear Creek flow 
into Green River at right angles with it, and that they run through 
Edmonson County almost parallel with each other, leaving a space 
between them of about twelve miles at their mouths, which gradually 
becomes narrower as you go north. The space between Green and 
Nolin rivers is triangular in shape. These two sections form the great 
iron and coal fields in Edmonson County, and we shall frequently 
refer to them while speaking of these resources. 

WATER POWER. 

Edmonson County is probably not surpassed by any section in the 
United States in the extent and availability of her water courses as 



THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF 



motive powers. Green River, which flows from east to west through 
the middle of the county, affords sufficient water power within the 
hmits of the county for half a hundred mills and factories. If the 
river should be improved by locks and dams, from each dam a mill 
or factory could be supplied with two hundred or three hundred horse 
power without injury to navigation; and the value of these powers 
would almost pay the expense of keeping up the locks and dams. 

On this subject Prof. Shaler, at page 58, vol, 3, Kentucky Geo- 
logical Report, says: 

"Green River itself, draining, as it does, a large cavern area, is capable of 
making an admirable water power at almost any point above the slack water 
navigation ; and below that point, wherever there are dams, there are waterfalls 
of great steadiness of volume, and of several hundred horse power, at the lowest 
water, going to waste." 

Nolin River, than which (Green River, which gives an outlet ex- 
cepted) there is no more important stream in Southwestern Kentucky, 
has an abundance of water power scarcely inferior to Green River. 
Of this river Prof. Shaler says: 

" Nolin River will furnish a water power comparable to many of the most 
important of the New England rivers. The report of Mr. Page will show that, 
in the extraordinary dry season of 1874, it, at the lowest stage, ran so as to be 
equal to twenty horse power for each foot of fall, a quantity which probably 
much excelled the discharge of the Licking River at the same time, though that 
river drains a district having an equal rainfall and some ten times the area of 
surface." 

Bear Creek, though smaller than Nolin, furnishes numerous good 
sites for mills. 

Besides these there are quite a number of smaller streams of greater 
or less importance to the communities in which they are located, but 
not of sufficient consequence for special mention here. 

SPRINGS. 

One of the very best features of the county is its numerous springs 
of pure and never-failing water. Scarcely a farm in the county but is 
supplied with one or more of these refreshing fountains. Indeed, 
these crystal streams, as they bur^t from the mountain's side, laugh- 
ing for joy and sparkling with purity, and glide away down the hills 
with their silver waves rippling over their white pebbled bottoms, are 
luxuries of which the gods might be proud to partake. 



EDMONSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY. 



SCENERY. 

Edmonson County can boast some of the finest scenery in the 
State. The grandeur and wild picturesqueness of her hills are hardly 
surpassed by those immortalized by Irving. Riding on horseback 
along one of the gravelly ridges found in the county, I came full 
upon one of the grandest scenes mortal eyes ever beheld. Just before 
me lay a valley, on either side of which magnificent hills reared their 
summits toward the heavens, ending at the valley with precipitous 
bluffs almost two hundred feet high. A pearly stream meandered 
through the center of the valley; the edges of the bluffs were fringed 
with pine and holly; and their tops were capped with the great oaks 
of the forest. 

Mr. P. N. Moore, in his report on the "Geology of the Nolin 
District," has this to say of the scenery of this county: 

"Some of the most romantic and beautiful scenery of the State is to be seen 
on the streams of this region. The well-known Dismal Rock on Nolin River, at 
the mouth of Dismal Creek, is but one instance among many. Piney, Pigeon, 
Bylew, and the other creeks in the heavy conglomerate, present a series of wild 
and picturesque clifiFs which have been rarely seen by appreciative eyes, but are 
well worthy the attention of the tourist. Were they more accessible, the region 
would doubtless become a well-known and attractive resort." 

TIMBER. 

No county has been better clothed with valuable timber than 
Edmonson. Her hills and valleys are studded with poplar, ash, 
oaks of various kinds, hickories, gums, beeches, hard and soft maple, 
and many other kinds. But the agencies that have destroyed the 
timber in other parts of the States have not been idle here, and vast 
forests have fallen before the axe of the agriculturist to make room 
for fields of corn, wheat, and tobacco. Besides, the poplar and walnut 
timber growing near our principal streams has been floated down them 
to market. Still we have thousands of acres of valuable timber, 
which, in the development of the various resources of the county, 
will find a ready market at remunerative prices. The greater part of 
this timber is, fortunately, situated in the immediate vicinity of th e 
iron and coal deposits of the county, and when these sources of 
wealth are developed, as they will certainly be in a few years at most, 
the timber will be at hand for building and other purposes. 

In his report on the Botany of Barren and Edmonson counties, Mr. 
John Hussey, among many other valuable things, says : 



THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF 



" Turning to the more practical side of my work, I can say that the quantity 
of valuable timber-trees [in Barren and Edmonson] seems practically inexhausti- 
ble." 

Further on : 

•' From the extreme east to the west of this great State, every part is clothed 
with the most valuable kinds of wood, from the bold cypress of the extreme 
southwest to the white pine in the Cumberland table-land, and the inexhaustible 
oak forests of the Green River counties, and those of the eastern and southeastern 
part of the State." 

Prof. Shaler, in his introduction to the above report, says : 

•'All along the tributaries of Green River we have admirable trees for such 
industries [making hubs, felloes, etc.] ; places where water power can be utilized 
at actual contact with permanent navigation for steamers directly connecting New 
Orleans by the cheapest possible carriage. 

"The ample stores of oak and other ship timbers along this stream,' Green 
River, suggest the possibility of developing another industry here. Good ship 
timber can be had in this district at one-third the lowest price ruling on the 
Atlantic seaboard." 

AGRICULTURE. 

There are a great many counties in the State better adapted to 
farming than this, if we limit that industry to the cereals. Notwith- 
standing this, however, our people are engaged almost exclusively in 
farming, but with the full limitation, as to crops, given above. Corn 
is a constituent element in the make up of every Kentuckian ; and the 
proverbial excellence of Kentucky corn-bread is no where better pre- 
served than here. 

The farmers of this county have much to learn before they reap 
adequate rewards for the labor they bestow. The system of farming 
practiced here is probably the worst that ever rewarded those engaged 
in the occupation with a living, and is such as to show the county in 
the very poorest possible light to those who are seeking homes in an 
agricultural district. Fields are "cleared," and year after year 
planted in corn until they will no longer produce that cereal; they 
are hen sowed in wheat, which produces no more than was sowed, 
and the impression prevails that wheat does not pay here. 

Too many of our farmers (?) have no higher ambition than to raise 
just enough corn to last them through the year; and when it is 'Maid 
by," spend the remainder of their time discussing politics on goods 
boxes or some other equally useless employment. 



EDMONSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY. 



What we need is energy and a greater variety of products. Along 
our streams we have lands that will bear a great many successive 
crops of the same kind without impoverishing the soil which is fed 
each year by overflows, but uplands need greater care and iTiore 
diversity of crops. 

Grasses grow well when given a fair opportunity, but, like wheat, are 
usually expected to grow on lands that will not produce anything else. 
Peaches and apples do well when properly cared for; and I am satis- 
fied grapes may be profitably grown on lands not suited to other pro- 
ducts. 

COAL. 

The western coal field of Kentucky (Edmonson County being one of 
the richest localities) is practically inexhaustible, and furnishes a high 
grade of coal and very superior coke. The region on the south side of 
Green River, in Edmonson County, has not been surveyed, and no 
very positive information of this section can be given, but some out- 
crops examined by the writer, and a study of the formation in which 
they are found, indicate mines of considerable economic value, if the 
quality (it has not been analyzed) proves as good as the quantity ap- 
pears to be extensive. 

The principal work in this county by the Geological Survey has 
been done on the north side of Green River, between Bear Creek and 
Nolin River, and between Green and Nolin rivers. In these two sec- 
tions there is enough coal of good quality to run a thousand furnaces 
for one hundred years. Nearly all this coal can be mined by drifting, 
which, when the mines are opened, can be done at a cost of about 
seventy-five cents per ton, and as these beds of coal are situated very 
near Bear Creek, and Nolin and Green rivers, if these streams should 
be improved, as they certainly soon will be, the eoal could be mar- 
keted at small cost. 

Mr. Wm. B. Caldwell, in his "Notes on the Coal and Iron Ores 
of Western Kentucky," after giving an analysis of the Edmonson 
County coals, says : 

" With an unlimited supply of coal of excellent quality for iron making, and 
as cheaply mined and handled as this may be * * * * * it only 
requires to prove the existence of abundant supplies of iron ore of sufficient 
richness and purity to show that this must inevitably be a great iron producing 
region in the future." 

Mr. P. N. Moore, in his report on the Geology of the Nolin River 
District, speaking of the quality of our coal, says: 



THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF 



"Of the Main Nolin Coal a number of analyses have been made, both from 
single specimens and carefully averaged samples. 

"The following analyses of this coal, by Dr. Peter and Mr. Talbutt, will 
serve to show its quality : 





I 


3 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


II 


Specific gravity . . . 




1-305 


1.335 


1.282 


I-34S 


1-437 


I 350 


'-367 


1.336 


1-395 


1-346 


Moisture 

Volatile combusti- 1 

ble matter .... J 

Fixed carbon .... 

Ash 


3.40 
30.66 
54-94 

II. lO 


4.70 
31.40 
52.20 
11.70 


4.06 
33-24 
51.70 
11.06 


2.03 
32.10 
56.30 

9-30 


2.60 
33-8° 
53-14 
10.46 


4.06 
32.00 
50.84 
13.10 


3-60 
33-00 
54-40 

9.00 


3.20 
33-80 
52.60 
10.40 


3-66 
35-14 
54.26 

6.94 


4.14 
3'-52 

56.08 
15.26 


6.a6 
32.44 

53-80 
7.50 


Total 


100.00 


100.00 


1 00.00 


100.00 


ioo.no 


100.00 


100. CO 


100.00 


100.00 


100.00 


100.00 


Coke 

Sulphur 


65-94 

2-544 


63.90 
1.945 


62.70 
1.67 


65.60 
1.059 


63.60 
2-425 


63-94 
4938 


63.40 
2.101 


63.00 
2-923 


61.20 

2.706 


65-34 
3-565 


61.30 
1.476 



"No. I is an average sample, taken by myself, of the coal from the Steven's 
bank, Butler County. 

"No. 2 is an average sample, taken by myself, of coal from Tar Lick, near 
Dismal Creek, Edmonson County. 

"No. 3 is an average sample, by Mr. J. R. Proctor, of coal from same locality. 

" No. 4 is a single specimen from same locality. 

" No. 5 is an analysis of a single specimen from Knob Lick, Dismal Creek, 
Edmonson County. 

" No. 6 is an average sample, by myself, from a small outcrop of coal on Mill 
Branch of Bear Creek. The outcrop from which the sample was taken was so 
small that it can not be safely considered as a representative sample. 

" Nos. 7 and 8 are analyses of single specimens from the same locality. 

"No. 9 is an analysis of a single specimen from Shoal Branch of Bear 
Creek. 

"No. 10 is an analysis of coal from Gravelly Lick, Miller's Fork of Bear 
Creek. The sample was taken by myself from a very small outcrop, and can not 
be considered as an average of the whole bed. 

"No. II, coal from Brushy Branch of Canoloway Creek, average sample, by 
myself. 

" These analyses, with the exception of Nos. 6 and 10, show a coal of quality 
which entitles it tq^rank among the best of Western Kentucky." 



IRON ORES. 



We come now to the chief source of natural wealth in the county. 
The iron ores of Western Kentucky are nowhere richer or more 
abundant than in the northern part of Edmonson County. Indeed, 
few counties in the United States are better supplied with iron ore and 



EDMONSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY. II 



coal than this county, and I doubt if any have better facilities for 
making cheap iron. For fifteen miles north from Green River, in 
Edmonson County, there is scarcely an acre of land that does not 
cover a workable vein of high grade iron ore. , These beds of ore lie 
between Nolin and Green rivers, and between Bear Creek and Nolin 
River. This probably covers the full area of workable iron ore in 
the county. 

Other parts of the county have not been surveyed, and no accu- 
rate information of them can be given. The writer has examined a 
few places south of Green River, where the ores would most proba- 
bly be found, but the only indications were on high hills where the 
covering is gone, and the main beds appear to have wasted away. 
If there is any ore here, save that capping the hills, it is located 
(like that near Bear Creek), under the conglomerate. 

But whether there are workable beds south of Green River maybe 
determined hereafter; for, on the north side of the river, we know, 
from repeated examinations and tests, that there is sufficient ore to 
last any probable number of furnaces for a hundred years. 

From Prof. D. D. Owen's report of the Geological Survey of 
Kentucky, vol. 2, page 159, I extract the following : 

"No. 414 — Limonite. Labeled Iron Ore from the Nolin Ore Bank, Edmon- 
son County, Ky. Composition, dried at 212° F — 

Oxide of iron 60.90=42.64 per cent, of iron. 

Alumina .65 

Brown oxide of manganese 75 

Lime, a trace 

Magnesia 1.15 

Phosphoric acid 57 

Potash 36 

Soda 32 

Silica and insoluble silicates 23.68 

Combined water 11.15 

Loss 47 

100.00 

Another analysis of ore from the same locality, but occupying a 
different position in the formation, gave 52.31 per cent, of iron, an 
increase of nearly ten per centum. 

No. 416 — carbonate of iron — gave 37.04 per cent, of iron. 

No. 419, from W. B. Morris' farm, between Nolin and Green 
rivers, gave 43.50 per cent, of iron. 



THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF 



From the report of Mr. P. N, Moore on the Geology of the Nolin 
River District, I select, from fifty-two pages of a like tenor, the fol- 
lowing: 

"The iron ores of this region are abundant and valuable. It is one of the 
most richly-endowed, undeveloped localities in the State. 

" On Caney Branch of Gulf Creek, one of the lowest branches of Bear Creek, 
on the farm of Jacob Souders, there is found an ore of excellent quality, a 
limonite, so far as seen, of remarkable purity." 

After explaining the peculiar location of this ore as compared with 
the position iron ores usually occupy, the writer says : 

" In quality this ore is among the best of this region, and if it can be found 
to extend over any great area, it will prove one of the most valuable. It has 
been found outcropping in considerable quantities on the farm of M. Honaker, 
on Green River, above the mouth of Bear Creek. Enough is here seen to indi- 
cate with considerable certainty that this is the same ore, and that it is present in 
considerable quantities." 

This ore is independent of the main vein of ore elsewhere 
spoken of. 

"There are two banks near the Brownsville and Leitchfield road, about two 
miles apart. At the most southerly of these, the ore is reported to be six feet 
thick, and it was seen between three and four feet in thickness, of which the 
upper portion was ore of very good quality; the lower was sandy and ochreous. 

"South of Bee Spring, on the heads of Sycamore and Beaver Dam creeks, an 
ore is found sixty feet above the heavy conglomerate, and from fifteen to twenty 
feet above a sandstone which seems to be the thin edge of the Bee Spring sand- 
stone. This ore is somewhat different in character from that last described, but 
it is not unlikely the same ore. It has only been seen as a limonite, which is 
oolitic and rather coarse-grained, appearing more silicious than it really proves 
to be on analysis. * * * » » It is between three and four feet thick 
where seen, but in the opinion of the writer will probably average near the 
lower figure." 

Prof. Shaler, in a note to the latter part of the above statement, 
says: 

"This ore has been distinctly seen in but two places, and in these it exceeds 
four feet in thickness by my measurements." 

The analysis of this ore taken from an exposure at the head of one 
of the branches of Beaver Dam Creek, near where the Little Moun- 
tain Road leaves the Leitchfield and Brownsville Road, Edmonson 
County, gives 37.048 per cent, of metallic iron. 



/ 



EDMONSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY. 1 3 

Mr, Wm. B. Caldwell, in his "Notes on the Coal and Iron Ores 
of Western Kentucky," says: 

"In Edmonson, between the Nolin River and Bear Creek, a ridge about 
fifteen miles long and five miles wide, carries several beds of good ore, altered 
carbonates probably, which appear as limonites on the outcrop, but may run into 
carbonates when sufficiently under cover." [The analysis of samples from two of 
these give 40 and 46 per cent, respectively of metallic iron.] 

"Another locality which promises most favorably is the district between 
Nolin River and Bear Creek. Here is every advantage for iron making, except 
railroad transportation, and in these times of narrow-gauge roads it would not be 
impossible to run a road through the region, say from Grayson Springs to some 
point on Green River, or extend the projected road from the Louisville & Nash- 
ville to Mammoth Cave, six or seven miles further, to these ores and coals. 
Leaving the railroads out of the question, however, very little expense on the 
water courses — one lock and dam — would give good water transportation, and 
pig-iron could be taken to Rockport, Bowling Green, or Evansville, on the Ohio 
River, at a very low figure. Slack-water navigation can be reached (with the 
dam spoken of) by a tram-way of a few miles in length from the center of this 
region. 

"Some of the most prominent ores of this locality have already been men- 
tioned. They can be mined for less than one dollaf, and by locating a furnace 
conveniently for both ore and coal, which could easily be done, iron could be 
made at a very low figure. 

"The coal, being unusually firm and hard, could be used raw to the extent 
of at least one-third, and as the vein — Main Nolin coal or L — is 3^ feet thick 
at the least, mining could be done for 75 cents, as it would be on the drift." 

Owing to causes largely out of his control, Mr. J. R. Proctor, 
present State Geologist, has not extended the survey in this county, 
nor in any part of the Western fields, but knowing this region as he 
does he has not failed to lend his testimony to the resources that lie 
undeveloped beneath our soil. Here is an extract from his pen about 
this region : 

"In the Western coal-field are twelve beds of coal of workable thickness of 
good quality. Associated with the lower coals are several beds of limonite and 
cabonate iron ores, all above drainage, and situated favorably for cheap mining. 
One ore of good quality has an extensive area, and is from three to five feet in 
thickness." 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

The iron industry is rather dull at present, and capitalists are not 
as ready to invest in this business as formerly, but the present depres- 
sion is not likely to continue ad infinitum, and the period for the 
development of the Western coal and iron fields of Kentucky is rap- 



14 THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF 



idly approaching. The coal, iron, and timber resources of this sec- 
tion are sure to attract capitalists, and their development will make 
this one of the leading sections of the State. 

As in the professions the best is always in demand at fair prices, so 
the best grades of iron will always command good prices, although 
the market is overstocked with the lower grades. We have a good 
quality of ore f.nd plenty of the very best woods for charcoal, and 
there is no reason why a very superior grade of cold blast charcoal 
iron may not be made here. 

The lack of transportation facilities is the only great obstacle to 
the speedy devevelopment of the whole Green River country. This 
river and its tributaries, Bear Creek and Nolin River, drain a section, 
the development of whose timber and mineral resources would fur- 
nish employment to thousands of hands, and food and clothing to 
large numbers of women and children whose husbands and fathers are 
now in enforced idleness. It is idle to say these laborers are unem- 
ployed because of over-production. The cost of making iron is too 
great when the coal and ore must be shipped an average of four hun- 
dred miles to meet each other, and furnaces and foundries thus incon- 
veniently situated can not pay full wages and compete with those more 
favorably located. Let both your furnaces and rolling mills be located 
where coal and iron ore abound, and where you have water transpor- 
tation to the trade centres of the world, and there will be less com- 
plaint of a dull iron trade. Such a place is found in the Green River 
country, and that stream is just such a natural outlet as is required to 
carry heavy freight to market. Why, then, is the resources of this 
region not developed? The answer is that the Kentucky Legislature 
ill advisedly leased the improvements on lower Green River to a cor- 
poration for a term of thirty years. This corporation by high tolls 
excludes all competition in the carrying trade, and the country is in 
a worse condition than if these improvements were not in existence. 
Commerce is as completely locked by this corporation as the river is 
by its gates, and the corporation and the Legislature that granted the 
franchise are as thoroughly damned by the people as the river is by 
the improveijients. 

If the General Government would buy the interest of the Green 
and Barren River Navigation Company, and improve the river still 
further by locks and dams, and open these streams to free navigation, 
it would immediately furnish employment to thousands of hands in 
the construction of these improvements and in the development of 
the country which would directly follow. 



EDMONSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY. 1 5 



Of the number of additional dams necessary to fully develop 
the country drained by the Green River and its tributaries, I can not 
speak with certainty, but there should be a suflScient number to give 
slack water navigation at least to Munfordsville, in Hart County, and 
connect with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad at that point. I 
should say, however, that the better plan would be to extend slack 
water so as to connect with the railroad running from Lebanon by 
Greensburg, in Green County, thus giving the Green River country 
both a Louisville and Cincinnati connection from the North. This 
would give competing lines of transportation to the Ohio River, and 
open this country to the Northern as well as the Southern trade. 

One of these dams should be placed just below the mouth of Bear 
Creek, thus giving several miles of slack water up that stream, and 
another could be placed below the mouth of Nolin River, which would 
also open slack water navigation for a number of miles up this important 
stream, and give an outlet to much of the coal and iron along its 
shores. 

Another matter may be here mentioned which is of importance to 
railroads. By a short line of railroad running from somewhere near 
the Grayson Springs, on the E. & P. Road, through this iron and 
coal region, by Brownsville to Bowling Green, and across from there 
to a point on the road being built from Lebanon, by Greensburg and 
Scottsville, to Nashville, south of Scottsville, we would have railroad 
connection with Louisville, Cincinnati, and Nashville ; and Bowling 
Green and other points would have competing lines to those cities. 
The railroad would get a good carrying trade, especially North, as 
there is no direct water connection with Louisville and Cincinnati. 

A water-way of so much importance to the country ought to be 
under the control of the General Government, and made a free high- 
way for commercial intercourse. The people of Kentucky are anxious 
for such a consummation of the condition the Legislature unwittingly 
got them into, and those living along the river and its tributaries are 
daily groaning under the burdens which the present system entails 
upon them, and are praying earnestly for freedom from their semi 
bondage. 

Until this matter is settled, and competing lines of common car- 
riers are established, this county must lie undeveloped. Nay, worse ; 
the valuable forests along our streams must be destroyed by the farm- 
er's axe; and the stately oaks, whose trunks would make magnificent 
merchant-men, must furnish food for the worm and a home for the 



1 6 THE RESOURCES AND NEEDS OF EDMONSON COUNTY, KY. 

woodpecker. Our hills will be stripped of their foliage; the plow- 
share will ultimately crash into the beds of ore beneath, and the tor- 
rents rush them into the streams below, to be carried away by the 
tide, and lost to commerce forever. 

In these times of labor troubles, when men, women, and children 
are starving because of enforced idleness, it would be wise for the 
Government to free its groaning vaults of their surplus millions by a 
judicious system of internal improvements; and there can be no place 
where a few thousands of dollars could be more profitably expended 
than on the waters of Green River in Kentucky, 



i68 82 



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